A minimally invasive method of forming a cavity or void within one of the body's solid organs, for both diagnostic and treatment purposes, is becoming increasingly important as radiological and other types of scanning techniques improve a physician's ability to view inside the body without having to make an incision.
The most common solid organ currently making use of a minimally invasive technique to form a void is bone. Typically this is any pathological bone in the body with a fracture, osteoporosis, or a tumor. The most commonly used void-forming method for bones is the inflatable bone tamp, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,969,888 and 5,108,404. Void formation in this case is usually followed by filling with a filling substance like bone cement or a bone substitute.
Mechanical methods are also available for making voids inside solid organs. Those solid organs include the brain, the kidneys, the spleen, the liver and bone. In the brain, for example, an abscess could be easily debrided and irrigated with a minimally invasive mechanical void technique. A fractured spleen could be approached with a minimally invasive technique, to make a small void to fill with gelfoam or some other coagulant to stop hemorrhage. An osteoporotic, fractured vertebral body or bone tumor could be approached by a minimally invasive mechanical system in order to create a cavity or void and then refill with a bone substitute. A demand exists for systems or methods that are capable of forming voids in bone and other interior body regions in safe and efficacious ways.